Clippers 5, RailRiders 1: Defense keys four-game sweep

Baseball as chess played out in a checkmate move yesterday that involved Clippers center fielder Matt Carson and second baseman Matt Lawson during the sixth inning at Huntington Park.

Jim Massie, The Columbus Dispatch

Baseball as chess played out in a checkmate move yesterday that involved Clippers center fielder Matt Carson and second baseman Matt Lawson during the sixth inning at Huntington Park.

The two conspired to erase a run from the scoreboard for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — a deft move that helped the Clippers to a 5-1 victory over the RailRiders and a four-game series sweep.

The moment occurred in the midst of a scoreless contest with Scranton runners on first and second and two outs. Thomas Neal dropped a single in front of a charging Carson.

Ronnier Mustelier rounded third and sped toward home with what looked like a certain run. However, Carson spotted Dan Johnson taking a wide turn around second base and threw the ball to Lawson, who tagged Johnson a split second before Mustelier touched the plate.

“It was just a matter of not giving up on the play,” Lawson said. “And Matt was on (the same) page with me. I just wanted to be there if he wanted to make that throw.“Any time a runner is going to come around (a base), I’ll come in behind him. That’s a one chance in 100 that a play like that will be available.”

The outfield assist was the sixth of the season for Carson and easily his shortest throw in the grouping.

“I thought I had a chance to maybe dive for the ball,” Carson said. “When I got closer, I realized I wasn’t going to get there. I picked it and came up looking. (Johnson) happened to be off the bag a little ways, and I back-picked him.”

He gave a nod to Lawson.

“Everyone has to be heads-up,” Carson said. “That’s important on every play.”

The out also was the stuff of seven-game winning streaks like the one the Clippers are enjoying.

“That’s the way baseball works,” Carson said. “It’s all about confidence. A team starts getting confidence and nobody is pressing. You start thinking, ‘I don’t have to get this done by myself because somebody else is going to do it.’?”

Clippers manager Chris Tremie likes the hustle he is seeing.

“When you’re doing the right things on the field, you benefit from stuff like that,” he said.

The offense also stayed patient against Chien-Ming Wang (2-4), who was dueling Carlos Carrasco (2-0) on even terms. In the bottom of the sixth, a two-out RBI double by Ryan Rohlinger scored Lawson from second base for the first run of the game.

In the seventh, Chun-Hsiu Chen stroked a two-out double and scored on two wild pitches. Rohlinger, Chris Wallace and Ezequiel Carrera had consecutive RBI singles in the eighth to break the game open.

“That’s the way we’ve been playing lately: running the bases well and making plays,” Tremie said.